Trench supporting



March 23 1926. 1,578,230

J. P. CARROLL TRENCH surron'rzua Fi led June 8-, 1925 2 Sheets-Shoat 1Patented Mar. 23, 1 926.

' tar-TED sTArEs JOHN r. CARROLL, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,

Tanner: screenwriter. 1

Application filed June a, 1925, Serial No. 35,712. 1

7 '0 all whom it may concern Be it'known that I, JOHN P. CARROLL, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois have invented certain, new and usefulImproven'ients in TrenchSupporting,

of which the liollowing 1s a specifications In digging trenchesfor-building deep supporting walls for basements or; the like,

it has heretofore been a more or less common practice to dig the trench'somewhat A wider than the wall to be built therein, and

shoring the sides ofthe-trench and supporting the same by 'means of'jacks or drums and then putting in: the forinfor'one side -of the wall,the form for the OthQI'wSlCiE comprising the timbering on the side ofthe vtrench. \Vhenfthe forms had beenr'colnpleted, concrete would bepoured intothe bottom of the forms and allowed to set, then thefirstseries of drums of jacks would be removed and moreconcret'e poured intothe forms and allowed to-set and this process repeated 'until theformswe're filled. The layers of concrete would be approximately three:ieet'in' depth and would require con- ,siderabIe time,,often several"days,- to set, before the next la-yercould be placed in position. Onaccount of thisintermittent filling, this would necessitateconsiderabletime in order to properly fill the forms orcomfplete the wall, aswe'llasinvolving expense in removing the jacks and other props, from the forms.I i

' In accordance with the present, invention.

I provide a novel method ofwallconstruc 'tion and trenchsupporting'which will avoid the objections above notedgand-also pro-'vide novel means for carrying out such new method of wall construction.

The objects of this inventioniare to provide an improved' method oftrench. supporting and wall-construction,together with means forcarrying out such method; to l provide means whereby the forms for adeep wall which isbeing'formed i'n a trenclrmay be'entirely filledat-one operation or. without waitingflfor the'settin'g of the-concretein the wall; to provide anovel brjace-and-drum of jack for trenchsupporting; and to pro- 1 vide such'otheri-no'y el [features as will-bedescribed more fully hereinaften r In the accompanying. draw-ings;iill1is trating this invention,

. Fig e I s v ti alese ib al vi 'irlshoi -f ,erably' compriselongitudinal channels '15 ing the bottom of a trenchwith my improvedform of construction therein;

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional View taken on the line -2 -2 of Figure1;

Figure 3- isra section taken on the line Figures .4 and'5 are detailsshowing a I modified form of brace and- ,"Fignre'G shows the apparatusasarranged for abasement wall or wall around an open excavation insteadofa trench. a

Figure 1 shows the lower portion of'a trench 7 having sides Sand 9and'bottom 10. The sides 8'and9 are provided respectively withplanking'or' sheathing 11 and 12 for supporting the same during theexcavation and while the wall is being constructed, it being understoodthat-the trench referred to isdug in material in which the walls are notself-supporting.- I v I The planks or-i sheathing are preferablyarranged vertically and, are braced against the walls LOI'furthersupported by means of additional tirnbering or] beams andsuitablejacks or the like In" the arrangement shown," I provide horizontalbeams13 for engagement with the planks or sheathing Such beams may be madeofwood or t'a bric'ated from iron, as shown. In place of ordinary drumsor jacks, I'providestruts or braces '14 which are approximately asbeconstructed. These strutsor braces may be made 111 any su tablemanner, butpref manner. -iFor instance as* shown,- vthe drum foo long asthe widthiot the wallwhichisto 19 has afcap-j21 which is'ftl readedrto"re 7 ceivea screw 22, having a head -23; for turning, the same; Theoppositeendof the screw engages with; a pl'ate or -stationary me nber 24which rests against beams 25 which are pressed against the "orsheet-lung 12 irt11e si e of .ithe trench-tr; 711% 7 will be noted thatthe drum 19 extends into the 'trench,- depending upon the nature of thesoil.

VVhen the trench'has been completed and all of the supporting apparatusis placed 1n position, a form 26 is constructed at a proper distancefrom the side ofthe trench 8 for supporting the opposite side of thewall '27 which is to be formedby pouring concrete into the space betweenthese side forms. The form 26 may be made inany suitable manner andmaybe supported from the side 9 b means of braces 28 or the like.

"The form 26 is preferably placed so that the inner surface will be inalignment with the faceof the plates 18. When the form for the wall isthus completed, the concrete may be poured therein until the entire formis filled so that the wall may be completed 1 be arranged atv the endsof the struts 14 as I the-side's of a basement, the outer basement 1wall 29 is supported by' sheathing or' lagging in substantially oneoperation or without waiting for any portion of the concrete therein toset. It will'be noted that as the concrete is poured into the form itwill en-..

close the beams'13 and-brace 14 which will be completely embedded in thesame, and as these are fabricated from iron or steel, they will serve asrcinforcemen'tsfor the concrete. As soon as the concrete has set, thejacks 1 20 and the forms 26 may be removed. Such jacks willordinarily beremoved gradually from the bottom ,toward the top of the trench andasthe jacks are taken out, the j projecting ends ofthe struts 14 areburned oif or cut away, leaving the plates'lS flush with theface oftheiwall27.

' It will also be noted that the form 26=may indicated by dotted lines.In such case, the sockets for the drum's- 19 should been closed toprevent the concrete from-coming in contact therewitln As the drumsa-re-removed in this instance, the sockets maybe filled with concrete ifconsidered necessary.

In the arrangement shown in figure '6 where the wall is to beconstructed around "an open excavation as for instance around 30-ha'vinglongitudinal beams- 13 and struts 14 as above described, but inthis instance, the braces 19 are made sufiiciently long so that thejacks QO'Sm-ay engage with posts or abiitments 31 at the bottom of thebase -mentJ llhe inner form member-2d is arranged'in-a'snmlar manner tothe one above described and is -supportedin any-convenient and wellknown way, otherwise the arrangement and operation is substantially thesame as withthe apparatus above set forth.

In some instances-the struts or compression members instead of beingfabricated from steel shapes may be made ofcast iron as shown at 32 infigures & and 5. In this instance, the socket33 is castdirectly in theend for receiving the drum'orbrace 19. These struts are also preferablymade hollow and provided with openings 34 for allowing the concrete tocompletely embed the same. I

From'this description it will beseen that I? provide means whereby wallsmay be more expeditiously constructed in trenches or the like than withthe usual method heretofore employed, and the struts-andjbeamsoncompression members not only-serve 1n the proe ess-ot constructionbut'also' serve tore1nforce the completed wall. It will be not-ed thatthe a method-may be modified and the parts used, 7

may be changed in order to adapt the invention to various conditionssuch as are found in construction"work, and therefore I do not wish tobe limited to the exact method or means heretofore described, ex-

cept as specified inthe following claims, in p V which I claim:

1. The method of constructing'a trench and wall therein, which consistsin digging the trench and supporting the sides; by

means of suitable sheathing and two-part" shoring members,- then; makinga form which will enclose one part of'ea'ch shoring members, thenfilling the forinwith concrete, thereby embedding such parts of theshoring members therein, and finally removing the other portions of theshoring members and the removable portions of the wall sup ports andforms. v

2. Themethod of forming a trench with a wall therein, which consists. indigging the trench, placing sidesupportscomprising sl'iea-thing andlongitudinal beams, with struts to engage with the beams on one sideofthe trench and coacting with jacks which engage with the beams on theopposite side enclose a portion or all of each of said struts, fillingthe form with concrete to complete the wall, and finally withdrawing thejacks and removing all or a portion of the forms and wall supports,substantially as describede 3. The herein described method ofconstruction, which consists in digging a trench and sheathing thesidesthereof, holding the s1d'esapart by means of longitudinalbeams andtransverse struts, said struts having sockets in the end for-receivingdrumsfscrew of the trench, then constructing a form to jacks engagingwith the drums and-with the, beams on-the oppositeside of-the trench,

placing a form adjacent to theends ofthe struts, then filling the-=space between the v form and the opposed sheathing with concrete,thereby embedding the main portions of the struts; thenremoving thejacks and drums and cutting off any p'roj ectingends of the struts, andfinally removing the forms and sheathing, substantially as described.

4:. Trench supporting apparatus, comprising sheathing for engagementwith the sides of the trench, longitudinal beams engaging with saidsheathing, transverse struts en'- gaging with the beams on one side ofthe trench, acks coacting wlt-h said struts and engaging with the beamson the opposite side of the trench, said struts being formed of metaland being adapted to be, left in the concrete when it is poured intoplace to form a wall in the trench.

5. Trench supporting apparatus comprising suitable lagging for the sidesof the trench, beams engaging with said lagging, struts engaging withthe beams on one side of the trench and havlng sockets in their oppositeends, drums engaging with said sockets, screws engaging with said drums,plates engaging with said screws and the beams on the opposite side ofthe trench, said struts being formed of suitable inaterial so that theymay be left in the wall A which is to be formed in the trench,substantially as described.

- 6. A supporting member for trenches or the like, comprising a strutform-ed of metal ging, beams engaging with said lagging, struts engagingwith the beams on one side; or the trench, screw acks engaglng with saidstruts and with the beams on the opposite sides of the trench andarranged to be held in alignment with the struts, a, fOlIlTpOSltionedadjacent to the inner ends-of the struts r and adapted to retainconcrete between the same and the lagging on one side of the trench, thearrangement being such that when the concrete has been poured and thewall formed, the jacks together with: the .forms and a portion or all ofthe lagging may be removed, leaving the struts em bedded in the wall. I

i JOHN P. CARROLL.

